Newspaper Page Text
Quote of the Week - “I was convinced that the only the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing
thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, personal quirk that would never pay a mortgage ... I know
my parents, both of whom came from impoverished back- that the irony strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil, now.
grounds ... and neither of whom had been to college, took J K - Rowling to Harvard University in 2008
Opinions # A
sr* The Progress Editorial ^4
Good Old
Common Sense May 20,2021
From the Staff
Graduation is back; look ahead to brighter future
Students, teachers, and parents have
made it through the most difficult, dis
rupted, and emotionally challenging
school year in modern history. This Fri
day is the culmination of that year that
we all want to be in the rearview, inching
farther away as we (hopefully) drive to
wards more peaceful times.
Not only is Friday, May 21 the last day
of school for all Pickens County students,
it’s graduation day for seniors we are so
grateful will have an in-person ceremony,
unlike last year’s seniors who were
robbed of traditional graduation because
of the pandemic (not to mention missing
out on prom and so many other events).
We’re also happy to see the return of
an evening event, which we think will
add a lot to the celebration. Responses
from our readers on social media show
that people overwhelmingly prefer night
graduations - attendees will welcome the
lower temperatures, and nighttime
evokes much more of a sense of celebra
tion than mornings. (We would even sup
port a few fireworks in the future if
evening ceremonies continue.)
Graduating high school is a milestone
and crossroads at the same time. It’s a
symbolic marker of the separation of a
student’s life as a child and their life as
an adult. Many students will leave home
for the first time, off to college or
trade/technical school in a different city.
Others will stay home and commute to
school. Others will go directly into the
work force. There are a myriad of paths
students will take, so what advice could
we possibly give that translates across all
of those unique trajectories?
We thought about Bronnie Ware, an
author who worked in palliative care and
wrote the bestselling Top Five Regrets of
the Dying. The book, which came after
her viral blog, was inspired by Ware’s ex
perience with people at the end of their
life, and the things they told her they
wished they did differently. If these are
some of the most universal regrets, sen
iors at the beginning of their adult lives
could surely benefit remembering them
along the way.
•The most common regret was that
people wished they had the courage to
live a life true to themselves, not the life
others expected. “It is very important to
try and honor at least some of your
dreams along the way,” she writes.
“From the moment that you lose your
health, it is too late.”
•Have the courage to express feelings.
“Many people suppressed their feelings
in order to keep peace with others,” Ware
said. “As a result, they settled for a
mediocre existence and never became
who they were truly capable of becom
ing. Many developed illnesses relating to
the bitterness and resentment they carried
as a result.”
• Allow yourself to be happy. “Many
did not realize until the end that happi
ness is a choice. They had stayed stuck
in old patterns and habits. The so-called
‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into
their emotions, as well as their physical
lives. Fear of change had them pretend
ing to others, and to their selves, that they
were content. Life is a choice. It is
YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose
wisely, choose honestly. Choose happi
ness.”
• Not staying in touch with friends.
“Often they would not truly realize the
full benefits of old friends until their
dying weeks and it was not always pos
sible to track them down. Many had be
come so caught up in their own lives that
they had let golden friendships slip by
over the years.”
• They wish they hadn’t worked so
hard. Of course, it takes hard work to get
what you want, but this advice addresses
a tendency for some adults to “[spend] so
much of their lives on the treadmill of a
work existence” they miss out on what it
is to truly be a fulfilled and happy. “By
creating more space in your life, you be
come happier and more open to new op
portunities, ones more suited to your new
lifestyle.”
Add these five reminders to all the
other advice you’ll receive, graduates,
and forge on boldly to your next phase,
whatever you want that phase to look
like.
Congratulations PHS class of2021!
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Ponderings of a Simple Man
Py Caleb Smith
Cold-vid 19
Well, it finally happened.
After a solid year of quaran
tining, working from home,
and venturing out in public as
little as possible, I finally re
turned to the office. Ventur
ing tentatively out my door,
blinking nervously against
the light of the sun, I reen
tered the Outside World.
I cannot overstate how
strange it was to be sur
rounded by people during the
work day. For 12 months my
coworkers had consisted of
my two Yorkies. Now I was
surrounded by smiling,
laughing faces, all wanting to
catch up with me after so
long apart.
For the record, I preferred
the Yorkies.
At first I was shy and
awkward interacting with fel
low humans again. They
quickly realized that, much
like most feral creatures, I
could be approached safely if
they spoke in gentle, sooth
ing voices and offered food.
By the end of the week, it
was just like old times. I fi
nally got around to trimming
my beard so I no longer
looked like Robin Williams
from Jumanji, and I was even
communicating in complete
sentences. Progress. As I got
home Friday I thought to my
self, ‘It’s good to be back to
normal. ’
Then came Saturday, and
a strange, itchy, tingle at the
back of my throat. The panic
set in. Was this how it
started? A solid year of being
bombarded by every symp
tom imaginable had left an
indelible impression in my
mind, and with a sinking
feeling in my gut I sadly con
cluded that my luck had ran
out.
By Sunday the itch had
transformed into a full blown
sore throat. My eyes watered
and my nose was more con
gested than Atlanta traffic.
With great fear, I solemnly
picked up the phone and
made the doctor’s appoint
ment.
After the oh-so-pleasant
sensation of having my brain
swabbed, I sat alone in the lit
tle exam room, heart racing.
I coughed sadly into the
crook of my elbow and
watched the door with re
signed, watery eyes.
The doctor came back in
five minutes later.
“Give it to me straight
Doc,” I rasped. “It’s the
‘rona, ain’t it?”
“Mr. Smith,” he said.
“What you have is an ex
tremely mild case of the
common cold.”
It turns out that its not en
tirely a good thing to be ex
posed to zero germs for the
better part of a year. Your im
mune system doesn’t like it
and, when a simple thing like
the common cold enters your
body it can give you a bad
day.
I returned home relieved;
bottle of cough medicine
clutched in one hand.
I crawled into bed and
pulled the covers up to my
chin. Weakly, I called out to
my wife for some soup.
Back to normal indeed.
[Caleb Smith is a long
time, award-winning, colum
nist for the Progress.]
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia. 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
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#li)E School
OTHER VOICES
Local elections trainer discusses
what happened behind scenes in 2020
By Roger Browning
I am writing this to ex
plain to the good citizens of
Pickens County what was
happening behind the scenes
during the elections last year.
In full disclosure, my wife
(Kathy) worked the elections
in Fayette County for three
years and now in Pickens
County as a poll manager for
the past 10 years.
I came on board last year
after the first election as an
I/T representative for the
county. My job was to assist
in testing and preparing the
voting equipment as well as
training the poll workers
prior to each election, and
provide assistance to the
precincts that had equipment
issues on Election Day.
After the first election last
year, my wife came home
and was explaining what a
mess it was with the new vot
ing equipment.
Having worked in I/T at
Delta, I realized that training
was necessary. I went to the
supervisor of elections (Julie
Roberts), and offered my
services. After the first elec
tion I was involved in, I real
ized that the training manuals
from the state were incom
plete. It spelled out how to
use the equipment, but did
not explain how to handle
equipment failures.
The training classes taught
the poll workers how to pack
and unpack the equipment,
the proper sequence for turn
ing on the equipment, and fi
nally how to recover from
equipment failures. After my
classes, Julie would then go
over procedural issues.
Last years’ election
brought out the largest num
ber of voters ever seen. Be
cause of this, the number of
complaints by voters also in
creased. And I can say they
were justified.
The first issue was with
the governor and secretary of
state changing the rules on
mail in ballots and advanced
voting; Will not go into that.
Then it was the size of the
elections office building.
Up until last year’s elec
tions, the building was ade
quate, but not great. First
issue was that the building
was assigned and “not” cho
sen by the supervisor of elec
tions. Not only was it not
adequate for the large num
ber of unexpected advanced
voters, it lacked proper space
for storing, testing, and
preparation of the voting
equipment. It was a night
mare to get the voting equip
ment prepared for each
election in the basement of
that building.
With my assessment of
the background of what was
happening behind the scenes,
let me address the issues that
the GOP and State Represen
tative (Pickens) Rick
Jasperse had with the super
visor of elections.
I feel that their actions
were unjustified. Yes, they
acted on complaints by the
voters, but used the wrong
scapegoat to appease.
Because of complaints
during the presidential elec
tion, the advanced voting lo
cation was moved to the
recreation center in Roper
Park without consulting or
input of the elections super
visor.
This required the elections
office to scramble to get the
equipment installed and con
nected to the state. It required
the elections supervisor to
maintain operations at the of
fice while the remote location
was supervised by the assis
tant of elections.
On top of all the issues
that were happening, the su
pervisor and assistant came
down with COVID. My wife
then had to take over the ac
tivities at the rec. center,
while the supervisor and as
sistant were quarantined in
the elections office building.
So now you have two dedi
cated employees working
sick so that they could keep
the election on track.
During this time, I was
unaware of any voting equip
ment issues during the presi
dential elections
In closing I would like to
say to the GOP and Rick
Jasperse, I believe you made
a mistake in your actions.
You have no idea what it
takes to get enough seniors
together to man a precinct for
what turns out to be a 16 hour
day.
It’s not to say that there
are not some younger people
stepping up, but this genera
tion is winding down.
The GOP and Jasperse
need to be looking into the
voting equipment and a more
functional office location. I
can honestly say that every
effort was made at the county
level to ensure voting in
tegrity.
Where is the GOP and
Rick when it comes to the in
tegrity of the voting equip
ment? Who oversees the
manufacturing of the chip
manufacturer?
Who oversees the installa
tion of these chips? I don’t
believe Pickens County had
any reported irregularities.
Can the state make that
claim?
Are we Getting
it Straight?
If you spot a mistake,
contact our editor
706-253-2457
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI
LOW
RAIN
May
04
67
53
2.48
May
05
68
44
.00
May
06
65
44
.00
May
07
61
40
.00
May
08
66
42
.00
May
09
77
51
1.36
May
10
67
54
.00